Sunday, July 22, 2007

It was five years ago when the tomb of poet Vali Gujarati (also known as ValiDakni) was demolished and a road was constructed overnight, leaving no trace of the mazaar. The mob that destroyed the heritage of their own state, went ahead with building a temple 'HuladiaGodhariaHanumanMandir' on the spot.

Now, the High Court has issued a show-cause notice to the Chief Secretary and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), regarding the status of the shrine and its restoration. The petition has been filed by All Gujarat Minorities Association. The AMC's hand was suspected in the construction of the smooth road and AMC bulldozers were used. The make-shift temple was later removed though.

Ironically, the dargaah was just next to the Police Commissioner's office. But when there was no police to save the living, who would have thought about saving the abode of a dead. Alas, he was the man who had sang paens of Ahmedabad, Surat and Gujrat.

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